"Olluls ORIUII Wi LIJEFII]
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6.661 ZIx<I 2/ "olluls ORIUII wi LIJEFII] d& # WEFM broadcasts the finest in transcribed and re- corded music for the pleasure and entertainment of music lovers in the Chicagoland area. This station operates on a frequency of 99.5 megacycles and maintains a daily schedule from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. WEFM is owned by Zenith Radio Corporation and has been operated in the public interest for more than nine years. This is our program for April, 1949. If you wish to receive a copy each month for the coming year, send in two dollars with your name and address. For further program information, call ST ate 2-1357. Violet Kmety, Program Director (Program subject to change without notice) ZENITH RADIO STATION, WEFM, 135 S. LA SALLE, FIELD BUILDING, CHICAGO 3 Easter Program Notes Stabat Mater Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736) During Lenten season and Holy Week, one of the most vivid ways of signifying the passion and crucifixion of the Saviour is through the liturgical ritual of the Catholic Church called the Stations of the Cross. This ritual includes fourteen stations or scenes which depict the events from the time Christ was condemned to death by Pilate to His burial in the sepulchre. In formal liturgy, between each of these stations or scenes, one verse of a hymn honoring the Mother of Christ as she stood at the foot of the cross, is sung. This hymn is called the Stabat Mater (There Stood the Mother). This tradition of singing the Stabat Mater is a very old one that probably had its origin in the 13th century, when one of the "tropes" or additions to the Alleluia opened with the words "Stabat Mater." The words of the original Latin poem are generally attributed to the 13th century Franciscan Jacopo da Todi, and the melody used was probably of a plainsong nature ( having one voice only, with no accompaniment) . By 1727, the Stabat Mater achieved a place as a Sequence in the Mass, becoming an official part of the liturgy. Of the many musical settings of the Stabat Mater that have been written, that of the 18th century religious and operatic composer Pergolesi is one of the best known. Composed in 1736, just before Pergolesi's death, it has only two parts, soprano and alto, with an accompaniment of strings and continuo ( organ or harpsichord) . Other composers hay e, from time to time, added wind parts, and occasionally a full orchestral accompaniment. Musically, Pergolesi's Stabat Mater is considered one of the two masterpieces that he produced during his lifetime, while spiritually it is a perfect expression of inherent sorrow, expressed thus: Beneath the world's redeeming wood, Unto Christ, with pure emotion, The most afflicted Mother stood, Raise my contrite heart's devotion, Mingling her tears with her Son's blood. Love to read in every wound. Through her heart His sorrows sharing, Tho -e five wounds on Jesus smitten, All His bitter anguish bearing, Mother! in my heart be written, Lo! the piercing sword had passed. Deep as in thine own they be. O, how sad and sore distressed Mine with thee be that sad station, Now was she, that Mother Blessed There to watch the great Salvation Of the sole -begotten One. Wrought upon th' atoning Tree. Who could mark, from tears refraining Virgin, thou of virgins fairest, Christ's dear Mother uncomplaining May the bitter woe thou bearest In so great a sorrow bowed? Make on me impression deep. Who, unmoved, behold her languish To my parting soul be given Underneath His cross of anguish Entrance through the gate of Heaven, 'Mid the fierce, unpitying crowd? There confess me for Thine own. The Seven Words of The Saviour Upon The Cross Franz Jcseph Haydn (1732-1809) The setting at which the first performance of Haydn's Seven Words of the Saviour upon the Cross took place was in close keeping with the spirit of the work and the occasion which it commemorated. It had been commissioned for use at the Good Friday service at the Cathedral of Cadiz in Spain, for it was the custom of the Cathedral to produce an oratorio every year. For this performance, the walls, windows and pillars of the cathedral were hung with black cloth, and only one lamp, hanging from the center of the ceiling pierced the darkness. At noon, the doors were closed and the ceremony began. Ascending the pulpit, the bishop pronounced one of the Seven Words (or sentences) , expanding thereupon in discourse. Following this, he approached and knelt before the altar in solemn prayer as the setting was then portrayed in music. The same procedure followed throughout the Seven Words. Each of these seven musical interludes was to be an expression, through music, of the words that had just been spoken by the bishop, and they thus played an important part in assisting to lift the hearts and minds of the congregation to God. Haydn's music for this solemn occasion was instrumental only, and was known as La Passione Instrumental. Later, when it was to be used at occasions other than the cathedral service, Haydn arranged the work as a piano solo, a string quartet, and, adding words and vocal parts, as an oratorio, all an accepted procedure in his day. In its form as an oratorio, The Seven Words of the Saviour upon the Cross consists of seven slow movements, entitled sonatas, each representing one of the Saviour's exhortations on the Cross, sung by the chorus. Though the movements are different in character, they are united by their solemn dramatic style. The first sonata is a Largo section based on the words "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." The second sonata, marked Grave e cantabile, comprises the second Word, "Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise." The Gospel according to St. John tells of the words of the dying Jesus speaking to his Mother, and the disciple St. John, whom He loved so much. These words, "Woman, behold thy son, and thou, behold thy mother" were the inspiration for the third sonata. The fourth sonata commemorates the well known words "Eli, Eli, lamma sabacthani," "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" When Jesus said, "I thirst," one of the bystanders took a sponge, soaked it in vinegar, and putting it on a reed, offered it to Jesus to drink. This action is described on Sonata V. Sonatas VI and VII refer to the last few minutes before the Saviour died, when, as in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, "Jesus again cried out with a loud voice, and gave up His spirit." "It is accomplished" is the title of this sixth sonata, and "Father into Thy Hands I commend My spirit" the title of the seventh. Following the seventh Word, Haydn endeavored to portray in music the earthquake and chaos that came at the moment of Christ's death. As described in the scripture, "... the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth quaked and the rocks were rent, and the tombs were opened ... " Requiem Mass Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) The death of the poet Alessandro Manzoni provided the motivation for Verdi's Requiem Mass. Besides his sincere admiration for Manzoni, who had won international reputation as Italy's outstanding literary figure, Verdi was also bound to him by ties of the profoundest personal friendship, and was deeply grief-stricken at his death. Shortly after a secret visit to the grave of his venerated friend, Verdi wrote to the Mayor of Milan offering to compose a Requiem for the anniversary of Manzoni's death, which had occurred on May 22, 1873. "It is a heart -felt impulse, or rather necessity," he wrote, "which prompts me to do honor as best I can to that Great One whom I so much admired as a writer and venerated as a man." His offer was accepted, and Verdi not only completed the work but proceeded to personally take every necessary step toward securing the finest soloists, a picked orchestra of one hundred musicians, and a chorus of one hundred and twenty. The first performance took place on May 22, 1874, at St. Mark's in Milan. A Requiem Mass, or Mass for the dead, differs from the ordinary liturgical ceremony of the Catholic Church in that it is a particular kind of Mass said either on the day of burial, or afterward, for the soul of someone who has died. Prominent in a Requiem Mass is the Dies Irae, describing the day of the Last Judgment. The exultant Gloria is omitted, while the Credo, or Creed, remains unchanged. The ending phrase of the Agnus Dei is changed in accordance with the Requiem theme. Where the prayer for the ordinary Agnus Dei is "Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us," in the Requiem Mass it becomes "Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, give them eternal rest." (The above compositions featured during Easter Week.) FM cRadio \'\T F.FM DAYTIME SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 1949 9:30 A.M. Morning Musicale 12:00 M. Noontime Varieties 3:30 P.M. The Concert Hall 10:00 A.M. Tunes in Tempo 1:00 P.M. Salon Hour 4:30 P.M. Medley Time 10:30 A.M. Morning Concert 2:00 P.M. Musical Matinee 5:00 P.M. Musical Tete a Tete 11:30 A.M.